Ema Horvath joins the cast of Amazon’s Lord of the Rings prequel

After a long period of silence, we’re finally getting more details about Amazon’s Lord of the Rings prequel show. Those floodgates are inching open, ever…so…slowly.

Deadline broke the news yesterday that actor Ema Horvath has joined the cast.

Horvath, a graduate of the Harvard drama school, is a relative unknown, with her first big acting credit being the horror flick Like.Share.Follow in 2017, but I for one am glad to see Amazon finding new talent. A series like Lord of the Rings has its own kind of star power based on how well known the story is, and personally, I didn’t feel that the big names Peter Jackson took pains to cast in The Hobbit added enough to be worth it. I’m looking at you, Tauriel.

Speaking of Tauriel, it’s pretty easy to imagine Horvath in an elvish role. There’s certainly something to her look that calls to mind Liv Tyler and Evangeline Lilly. Of course, it’s likely to be quite some time before we get any more details on that front — both Horvath and Amazon have declined to comment on the news. But when has that ever stopped the internet from speculating?

Little is known about the Lord of the Rings prequel at this point. We know it’s set during the Second Age when Sauron was still an aspiring jeweler, that it’s costing a butt ton of money to make, and that it’s already been renewed for a second season. We know that Game of Thrones loremaster Bryan Cogman is helping write it, and that at least some of the filming will take place in New Zealand. And we know about a few other people who will be in it.

There’s Will Poulter, playing a character named Beldor…

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 24: Will Poulter attends the premiere of A24’s “Midsommar” at ArcLight Hollywood on June 24, 2019 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

…Australian actress Markella Kavenagh as Tyra…

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – DECEMBER 05: Markella Kavenagh attends the 2018 AACTA Awards Presented by Foxtel at The Star on December 5, 2018 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brook Mitchell/Getty Images for AFI)

…Maxim Baldry in a “significant” role…

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 22: Maxim Baldry attends the HBO’s Post Emmy Awards Reception at The Plaza at the Pacific Design Center on September 22, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)

…and most excitingly of all, Game of Thrones star Joseph Mawle as the show’s villain (or one of them, at least), Oren:

But with Amazon’s Lord of the Rings show unlikely to air before 2021 at the earliest, it’ll be a while before we get to see these guys in action. Good thing there’s no shortage of other awesome shows to hold us over in the mean time.

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